In message <20051224010603.DQQE29634.aamta11-winn.ispmail.ntl.com_at_homemaster> "Jane Williams" writes:
>> That's a pretty strong implication. Ernalda and Orlanth are joined
>> at the hip, so to say. Orlanth disappears, Ernalda mourns and goes
>> to sleep. Kind of riff on the Persephone-Demeter myth.
>
>In Sartar, yes (though ISTR she hangs around actually doing something
>useful for quite a while - she isn't just a useless parasite, you
>know!) But in other lands?
Isn't this the trouble, pretty much all the published stuff is
highly sexist. It's all Orlanth did this, this happened to Orlanth,
etc. We don't know what Ernalda is doing except for when it
impacts on Orlanth and even then he takes the credit.
I'm trying to get my head round Ernalda's view of all this and
so far I've got the following fragments:
- Ernalda's marriage to Orlanth was a myth shaking event. It was
the first time a marriage was not arranged for the couple.
- "Before" that marriage Ernalda had many husband/protectors of
which Orlanth was one. It may well be that they should be
called lover/protectors instead.
- "Before" that marriage Ernalda also placed greater reliance
on the various Gori as "Guardians of the Earth".
- In Esrolia this marriage is downplayed as being equal to the
others. It has been mythically proved that it is more at some
stage but there are many in Esrolia who don't accept that and
would HQ to change it.
- It is the special nature of this marriage that has made
Ernalda vunerable to Orlanth's fate.
- Tarsh is a big problem, to what extent can the Lunar priestess's
compensate for Ernalda sleeping? Probably where Hon-Eel has
persuaded them to grow Maize they are OK. Those who still
follow Ernalda are going to suffer.
- Many of the other events that cause Orlanth's death and Ernalda's
sleep are primarily related to the earth - I'm sure one of them
involves the Maran Gori at Wintertop.
So basically we've got half the story - the Storm half and we're
missing the Earth half.
--
Donald Oddy
http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/